Autographic register



H. L. ROBERTS.

AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24. 191B.

Patented @011 24,1922.

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.L. ROBERTS.

AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24. 1918.

Patented Oct. 24,1922.

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HERBERT L. ROBERTS, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO BUSINESSSYSTEMS, LIMITED, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, A CORPORATION OF CANADA.

AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER.

Application filed September 24, 1918. Serial No. 255,482. 7 '0 all whomit may concern: ported thereby in their elevated position Be it knownthat I, HERBERT L. ROBERTS, until the next succeeding feeding operationa subject of the King of England, residing shifts the next pair ofregister openings into at Toronto, in the Province of Ontario,Doposition to receive the pins which act to arminion of Canada, haveinvented certain rest the feed and register the webs. new and usefulImprovements in Auto- In order that the invention maybe fully graphicRegisters, of which the following is understood it will. first bedescribed with a full and clear specification. reference to theaccompanying drawings and The present'invention relates to improveitsnovelty afterward pointed out more par- 10 ments in autographicregisters of the type in ticularly 1n the annexed claims. which aplurality of webs of paper contain- Figure 1 is a side elevation of anauto ing printed forms, such as for sales slips, graphic registerembodying the present in and longitudinally spaced pairs ofregistervention; ing perforations are periodically engaged by Figure 2is a plan view of the same;

15 aligning pins to relatively register the super- Figure 3 is anenlarged detail longitudinal posed forms at the completion of eachresectional view showing one of the slotted cording and feedingoperation, so as to insupporting brackets for the gravity take up surethe detachment. of slips of uniform rolls; length corresponding properlywith the Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical transverse 20 printed formscontained thereon. sectional view, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig- Thepresent invention relates more parure 2; ticularly to an improvementupon the ma- Figures 5 and 6 are detail vertical secchine covered by myapplication filed July tional views of the automatic feed and reg- 27th,1918, Serial No. 247,039, which comistering devices, said views beingtaken re- 25 prises suitable feedingmechanism for adspectively, upon thesection lines 5-5 and vancing the superposed webs of paper over 6 6 ofFigure 4.

a writing table from supply rolls supported In the embodiment of thepresent invenbeneath the writing table, and feed arresttion, shown inthe accompanying drawings, ing means controlled by automatically actthemachine is built up upon the usual side ing feeler and aligning fingerswhich operframes 1 and 2, connected by strengthening 80 ate upon themoving webs and move into the cross rods or tie bars, such as shown at 3and register openings of the webs for tripping by the operating partshereinafterreferred the feeding mechanism and releasing its hold to. 5is a table frame pivotally mounted at upon the webs to permit the websto be its rear end upon a rod 6, mounted in the 35 drawn backwardly overthe writing table upper edges of side frames 1 and 2 and until theirbackward movement is arrested formed with downwardly presented side bythe engagement of the walls of the regisflanges that snugly fit over theupper edges ter openings with the feeler and aligning of the side frames1 and 2 when the table is pins. in lowered operative position. The rearend 40 The urpose of the present invention is of the table is cut awayand mounted in this to. simplify and improve the machine of said cutawayportion are downwardly presented application by eliminating theautomatic bracket flanges 14and 15, formed with intrip which releasesthe aligning pins and clined slots 16, in which are freely mounted dropsthem upon the paper when the movethe journal ends of gravity idler rolls20.

45 ment of the feeding mechanism is started. These rolls 2O serve thedouble function of This is accomplished by providing means forguiding-the webs of paper from the supply shifting the aligning pins outof alignment rolls (presently referred to) to the writing with theregister openings when they are table, and providing automatic means forwithdrawn from said openings, so they will moving the webs rearwardlyover the table 50 engage and rest upon the webs and be supwhen the feedmechanism releases them for the purposes hereinafter explained. Thenumber of idler rolls 20 depends upon the number of webs that are to behandled in the machine. The accompanying drawings show four such rolls.

The previously printed and properly perforated webs or sheets aremounted in roll form as commonly practiced in this art. The rolls ofprepared webs, preferably upon tubular spindles such as is usually madeof paper board, are mounted between bearing cones arranged in pairs.Each pair of hearing cones comprises a stationary flanged head 25,mounted upon a rigid pin or lug, in one side frame and a movably mountedflange head 26, mounted upon the inner end of a sliding rotating pin 27,extending through bearing 28 in the opposite side frame and supportingan expansion spring 29 between the head 26 and the side frame forholding the head yieldingly in engagement with the tubular roll spindle.These spring pressed rotating bearings for the rolls cause the rolls tobe pressed against the stationary bearing heads with suflicient pressureto properly retard the feeding movement and since all of the rolls arepressed toward the same side of the machine and are supported by thesame form of devices it will be seen that the side edges of thesuperposed web of paper will be properly aligned.

Secured to the table side flange at the right are a pair of outwardlyprojecting bracket arms 35, formed with vertical slots 37 adapted toreceive the rod 40, which sup ports the roll of the required number ofwebs of carbon paper. These carbon webs are all wound upon the same rod,as is usual.

60 is a flanged cover plate pivotally mounted upon the rod 6 and formedwith downwardly presented side flanges adapted to fit over the sideflange of table 5 at one side and the carbon roll support at theopposite side. This cover plate forms a top housing for the carbonsheets and a 1narginal housing for the superposed webs of paper, theplate being centrally cut out as shown at 61 to expose the central zonesof the successive register blanks of the topmost web.

Mounted between the side frames at their forward or delivery ends is asuitable frame consisting of side plates 75 braced by the suitable tieplates, in which is mounted the web feeding and aligning mechanismswhich will now be described.

The upper feed roller 80 is journaled in the upright side members 7 5just above the plane of the feed of the paper webs from the writingtable. This upper roll 80 is formed with annular feed ribs or collars 81a short distance from its ends, a series of gear teeth 83 at one end,and a combined ratchet and driving gear 84 at its opposite end. A crankhandle 85 is secured to the projecting journal end of roll 80 at theleft hand side of the machine, by which the feeding mechanism ismanually operated. A gravity stop dog or pawl 86 is pivoted at 87 to theframe piece 75 in position to constantly engage the combined ratchet anddrive gear 84 to prevent backward rotation of the same.

90 is the lower feed roller freely journaled in a pivoted carrying frameconsisting of side plates 91, connected by tie rods which allow a slightrelative yield between the two side plates. The side plates areindependently pivoted in the upright frame plates 75, 75 upon pivots 95.Tension springs 96 connect the frame plates 91 with the side frames 1and 2, to yieldingly hold the lower feed roller in peripheral engagementwith the annular feed collars of the upper roll; the opposite ends oflower feed roller being acted upon independently to insure accuracy inthe feeding operation.

The rock shaft 97 has rigidly secured to it two bifurcated rock arms 98,which engage plates 91 of the pivotally mounted spring actuated frame ofthe lower feed roll. This rock shaft also has rigidly secured to it arock arm 100, which projects upwardly and backwardly over the gear teeth83 of the upper feed roll 80. To the free end of this rock arm 100 ispivotally mounted at 101 a dog 102, engaged by a spring 103, carried byarm 100. This dog 102 is designed to move into engagement with theseries of gear teeth 83 when released by the controlling mechanismhereinafter described, for the purpose of positively rocking both sideplates 01 of the frame carrying the lower feed roller to separate thefeed rolls and release the webs therefrom.

105 is a sectional horizontal plate formed with downwardly projectingend flanges 106. through which project the inner ends of pivot bolts 95.The flanged ends of the plate 105 are secured upon these pivot bolts bysuitable nuts. This plate 105 forms a short horizontal extension of theinclined writing table for accurately presenting the webs of paper tothe feeding mechanism and the controlling and registering devices. Plate105 is formed with vertical slots 108 for the reception of the feelerand aligning fingers 110 which will now be described.

Journaled in the upright frame parts 7 5 above the feed rollers abovedescribed, is a rock shaft 115. carrying loosely mounted rearwardlypresented arms 116 and 117, upon which are loosely hung the feeler andaligning fingers 110. These fingers 110 reciprocate freely andvertically in suitable guides 111, secured to the upright tie plate 76,and are adapted. when released. to press lightly upon the passing websof paper and to enter the register openings in the webs. and pro- 'ectinto the slots 108 of plate 105 as will ereinafter be explained.

The arms 116 and 117 are loosely mounted upon shaft 115 and providedwith limited lost motion thereon by any suitable means such as the setscrews indicated at 116 and 117 engaging slots or flats formed in shaft115 as indicated b dotted lines in Figure 4. This mounting 0 arms 116and 117 is the same as in my application Serial No. 247,039 abovereferred to. loosely surround the shaft 115, engaging brackets 119 atone end and an arm 116 or 117 at the other end.

The shaft 115 carries centrally between its ends a rigidly attachedcollar 130 having a laterally projecting pin 145 which operates in notch141 of vertically movable manually operated plate 140. The plate 140reciprocates in suitable slots formed in bracket 142 and housing plate77, and is provided with a hand flange 143. By depressing plate 140 theshaft 115 is rocked in opposition to springs 118 for the purposehereinafter explained.

150 is a two armed light leaf spring centrally secured at 151 to theinner face of tie plate 7 6, and having its opposite end bowed slightlyand presented in front of the aligning fingers 110 to give them a normalspring tendency to move rearwardly at their lower ends; the guidingsupports of said fingers 110 being such that the lower web engagingportions of the fingers are free to move forward and backwardapproximately parallel with the plane of feed in addition to their upand down movements.

The purpose of this backward spring movement of fingers 110 is toautomatically move the fingers out of vertical alignment with theregister openings of the web and the slots 108 of plates 105 so that thefingers will rest upon imperforate portions of the web after eachregistering operation for holding the feed throw-out inactive and thefingers in position to accomplish their next registering operation.l/Vhen fingers 110 are thus supported in elevated position and the 'websare moved forward'by the feed mechanism the friction of the webs on thelower ends of the fingers moves them forward against the action ofspring 150 until they are arrested by engagement with under roll 90 andheld in that position directly over slots 108 in readiness to drop intothe next register openings of the webs.

Adjustably mounted upon the shaft 115, adjacent one end, is anadjustable ram 165, which operates in a yoke 170, which straddles and issupported by the cam 165 and is pivoted at its lower end 171 to the freeend of the dog 102, above referred to. The spring 103 acting through thedog 102 causes yoke 170 to closely follow the cam 165. The purpose ofthe cam 165 and yoke 170 is to Torsion springs 118 raise or lower thedog 102 with reference to the ratchet wheel 83. When the operat ting thesprings of the lower feed roller to throw that .roller into operativerelation with the upper feed roll.

The operation of the improved register may be briefly explained asfollows:

The several properly prepared webs are led from their' supporting rollsover the guiding and take up'rolls 20 to the writing table 5, over whichthe several webs of carbon paper are passed from the carbon supportingroller. The carbon sheets being interposed between the record webs andsecured against displacement in the manner well understood in this art.

.The several superposed webs are threaded between the upper and lowerfeed rolls and adjusted into registered position with the aligning pins110 passing through the registering openings of the several Webs. Inthis adjustment at the start the feed rolls' are spread apart bypressure on rock arm 100 so that the webs may move freely in the machineand with relation to each other. With the webs properly positioned andthe feed rolls thrown 'into action, the operator makes his record of asale or other transaction of which he desires a manifold record, andthen by rotating the crank 85 clockwise, feeds the several Webs over thewriting table and out of the delivery end of the machine. As the Websare fed forward the friction of paper on lower ends of fingers 110 movesthe fingers against roll 90 where they remain supported above slots 108in plates 105 until the next pair of register openings reach the pinsand they drop through said openings into slots 108, which action permitsthe spring actuated rock shaft 115 to move and lower the dog 102 intomesh with the rotating gear teeth 83, which draws rearwardly on the rockarm 100 for spreading apart the feed rolls and releasing the record websfrom the grip of the feed mechanism. At the completion of this feedarresting operation, the dog 102 continues in engagement with the gearteeth 83 thereby arresting the rotation of the feed rolls in a feedingdirection and in co-operation with the dog 86 in its engagement withgear 84 looking the feed mechanism in the spread apart condition.

When the superposed webs are released from the feed rolls in the mannerexplained they are all pulled backwardly over the feed table by theidler take up rolls 20, moving by gravity in their inclined slots. eachpaper webybeing independently pulled backwardly until it is arrested bythe engagement of the walls of its registering perforations with thealigning pins. In this manner all of the Webs are brought into accuratealignment and registry, any slight inequality in the action upon oneor'more of the webs being completely corrected by the registeringoperation. In this way there is no danger whatever of accumulating errorin registry of the record webs.

Immediately following the registry of the webs, as explained, theoperator depresses the plate 140, with the result that dog 102 is firstraised out of engagement with gear 83 to permit the lower feed roll tospring back into feeding relation with the upper roll to grip the websbetween the rolls, and immediately following the grip of the webs by thefeed rolls, the aligning and registering pins are withdrawn from theregister openings and rest upon the webs by reason of the action ofspring 150, and support the rock shaft and connected parts in retractedposition. The projecting manifold records are then to be severed fromthe webs by any suitable means. In the machine illustrated I haveemployed the vtie plate 7 7 as a cutting bar up against which theprojecting slips can be torn off. In this tearing off operation the websare rigidly held against movement by the grip of the feeding rolls.

When the succeeding record is made upon the superposed webs theoperation is repeated.

While the present invention has been described in connection with amachine in which the registering operation is accomplished by a rearwardpull upon the webs when released from the. feed, as covered broadly bymy above named application Ser. 247,039, I would have it understood thatI do not intend to limit myself to such a registering operation butintend to claim my improved registering devices in their broadestapplication whatever may be the direction of movement of the web' orthemeans employed for moving it in the registering operation. Thus, theimportant features of the aligning or registering fingers which aresupported in inactive position by their engagement with imperforateparts of the webs, maybe employed in a machine in which the registry ofthe webs is accomplished by the arrest of movement of the web by itsengagement with the fingers, without regard to throwing out of actionthe feeding mechanism or any other parts controlled by' the feelerfingers.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of webfeeding means, with a web-registering member movable perpendicularly tothe plane of feed of the web when registering and automatically movableparallel with 'saidplane of feed when returned from registeringposition.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of webfeeding means, with a web-registering member movable perpendicularly toand parallel with the plane of feed of the web, anda mounting for saidmember in fixed relation to said feeding means.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination'of webfeedingmeans, with a web-registering member movable ap roximatelyerpendicularly to the webpat and 5. In a machine of the characterdescribed,

the combination with means for feeding a web having longitudinallyspaced registering perforations, with a web-registerin :pin movableapproximately perpendicular y to the web path into and out of the webperforations and yieldably mounted upon its support to move parallelwith the web path and engage and be carried by an imperforate portion ofthe web in its feeding movement.

6. In a machine of the character described, the combination with meansfor feeding a web having longitudinally spaced registering perforations,with a web-registering pin movable approximately perpendicularly to theweb path into and out of the web perforations and yieldably mounted uponits sup ort to engage and be carried byvanimper orate portion of the webin its feeding v movement, and means for limiting the movement of saidpin in the web path.

7. In a machine of the character described, the combination with meansfor feeding a web having. longitudinally spaced registeringperforations, with a web-registering pin mounted upon a supportingmember to move approximately perpendicularly to the web path and toyield in the direction of feed in the web path, a spring acting uponsaid registering pin, and a stop for limiting the yielding motion ofsaid in in the web path; whereby said pin will rest upon an imperforateportion of said web and be moved in the web path against said limitingstop in readiness to enter a registering webperforation.

jacent to the plane of feed of the web and movable through and parallelwith the web plane, manually operated means for moving said member intoinitial position, and independent spring devices acting upon saidregistering member in two directions.

10. In a machine of the character described, the combination of meansfor feed. ing a web, with a web-registering member movableperpendicularly to and parallel with the web path, independent springdevices acting upon said registering member in two directions, andmanually operated means for moving said member out of its registeringengagement with the web.

1 1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of meansfor feeding a perforated web, with a web-registering member yieldinglymounted adjacent to the plane of feed of the web, said member bemgmovable through the web plane into and out of a web perforation and inthe web plane into and out of the vertical transverse plane ofregistration.

12. In a machine of the character described, the combination of meansfor feeding a perforated web, with a transversely yieldingweb-registering member mounted adJacent to the plane of feed of the weband normally supported by an imperforate portion of the web and movablethrough the web plane into a registering perforation.

13. In a machine of the'character described, the combination of meansfor feeding a perforated web, with a web-registering member yieldable inthe Web plane and normally supported by the Web and movableperpendicularly of the web plane into and out of a registeringperforation, and manually operated means for disengaging sail memberfrom the web perforation.

14. In a machine of the character described, the combination of meansfor feeding a perforated web, with a web-registering member mountedadjacent to the plane of feed of the web and movable through said webplane into engagement with a web perforation, means for disengaging saidmember from the web perforation, and means for moving said member in theplane of the web into engagement with an imperforate art thereof:

15. n a machine of the character described, the combination of means forfeeding-a web, with a registering member'adapted to enter a perforationin the web, means for disengaging said member from the web, and springmeans for moving said member in the plane of the web into engagementwith an imperforate part thereof.

16. In a machine of the character described, the combinat-ion of meansfor feeding a web, with a spring-actuated registering member adapted toenter a perforation in the web, and a spring device for moving saidmember in the plane of the web into engagement with an imperforate partthereof.

17. In a machine of the character described, the combination of meansfor feeding a web, with a. feeler device movable longitudinally andtransversely of its length adapted to enter a perforation in the web andmeans actuated by the movement of the feeler device for releasing thefeeding means from the web.

18. In a machine of the character described, the combination of meansfor feeding a perforated web, a spring actuated rock shaft mounted infixed relation to said feeding means, suitable feeler registeringfingers supported by said rock shaft in operative relation to the pathof the web, said fingers being movable upon their support in the webpath and normally engaging the web to hold said shaft against movementwith the fingers in position to engage web perforations.

19. In a machine of the character described, the combination of meansfor feeding a web, with a registering member adapted to enter aperforation in the web, means actuated by a movement of said registeringmember for rendering the feeding means inactive, means for disengagingsaid member from the web, and means for moving said member in the planeof the web into engagement with an imperforate part thereof.

20. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pairof feed rolls, means for moving one of said rolls relatively to theother, suitable feeler registering fingers supported above the path of aweb, a spring actuated rock shaft supporting said fingers, said fingersbeing transversely movable upon their support and normally engaging theweb to hold said shaft against movement with the fingers elevatedandmeans actuated by said shaft for operating said roll moving means.

21. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pairof feed rolls, means for moving one of said rolls relatively to theother, suitable feeler registering fingers supported above the path of aweb. a spring actuated rock shaft supporting said fingers, said fingersbeing'transveisely movable upon their support and normally engaging theweb to hold said shaftagainst movement with the fingers elevated,manually operated means for rocking said shaft to elevate said fingersand re-set said feed rolls in their operative relation. and meansactuated by said shaft for operating said roll moving means.

22. In a machine of the character described, the combination of suitablefeeding means, with a rock shaft carrying rock-arms. feeler registeringfingers supported by said rock-arms, suitable guides for said fingerssprings engaging said fingers and tending to move them transversely oftheir length in said guides.

23. In a machine of the character described, the combination of meansfor feeding a perforated web, with a registering feeler device movableperpendicularl to the web path into and out of a web per oration andparallel with the Web path when released from the web perforation, saidfeeler device being supported b an imperforate part of the web and movethereby in the web path prior to each registerin operation.

24. In a machine 0 the character de- HERBERT L. ROBERTS.

